Nature

The mystery behind how birds navigate might finally be solved: it’s not the iron in their beaks providing a magnetic compass, but a protein in their eyes that lets them “see” Earth’s magnetic fields. These findings come courtesy of two papers – one studying robins, the other zebra finches. The fancy eye protein is called

The Lizard King cometh. No, not Jim Morrison. The REAL Lizard King – an Asian water monitor named “Bamboo” that’s been chilling in a South Florida neighborhood and appears to be unstoppable, or at least untrappable. The 6-foot, 100-pound (1.8-metre 45-kilogram) monstrosity has been thwomping around in the Broward County town of Davie since Monday

The small, tropical fish known as a cleaner wrasse has just joined the ranks of various mammals and birds that have passed a classic test for determining self-awareness. An international team of researchers have found the finger-sized wrasse are capable of recognising their reflection, suggesting some part of their brain must be aware of its

Goats can tell the difference between our human facial expressions – and they would rather interact with happy, smiling people, a new study suggests. For people who own and love goats, this probably isn’t a huge surprise, but it’s the first scientific evidence of how goats read human emotional expressions, demonstrating that it’s not just

People eager to spend the waning days of summer frolicking in the waters near a coastal town in northwest France might want to rethink their plans. It isn’t safe, according to local officials, who recently banned swimming and diving in the area. But the danger threatening visitors to the beaches of Landevennec isn’t a vicious

We now have direct proof that ancient insects were also prey to horrifying parasitoids. Scientists painstakingly studyied 1,510 fossilised fly pupae from the Palaeogene, and discovered tiny fossilised wasp larvae inside 55 of them. Together, they include four new species that were previously unknown to science. Endoparasitoid wasps, conceptually, are some of the creatures that are

During the peak of the last glacial period, some 25,000 years ago, the population of prehistoric cave bears (Ursus spelaeus complex) dwindled to a trickle. And then, there were none. But while the once-flourishing species no longer roams the high alpines of Europe and Asia, a new study has found their DNA continues to live

Working as an au pair is often considered a great way to earn money and travel the world. The pay is crap, sure, but you can take comfort in the fact you’re not a naked mole rat. It turns out their queens literally feed their workers faeces dosed with hormones to encourage them to look

Most people with ovaries go through menopause. But most animals do not, and their reproductive organs last about as long as they do. We are an outlier. So are whales. Beluga whales and narwhals are the latest known addition to the ranks of menopausal mammals, a group of scientists reported Monday in the journal Scientific

Daniel, Jack and Matthew Aplin were driving along the south coast of Wellington, New Zealand, last weekend when they got a little bit distracted. The three brothers were supposed to be on the lookout for the perfect diving and spearfishing spot, with plenty of paua and butterfish to collect, when suddenly, their attention was caught

Around 252 million years ago, the Earth changed drastically and catastrophically. Massive, ongoing volcanic activity in Siberia wrapped the planet in a thick shroud of ash for almost a million years, killing off most of the life that was around at the time. This event, called the Great Dying, is the most severe extinction event

Most living things have to make babies to reproduce, and let’s face it, things can get messy. But this video of over 1,000 tarantula babies hatching out of an egg sac brings the process to a whole new level. The Deadly Tarantula Girl video, hosted by Marita Lorbiecke, shows the offspring of two Brazilian red and

Every morning, they rise to the surface of the water; every evening, they sink back down to the lakebed. Now scientists have finally figured out how these green spheres – called marimo algae – perform their dance every single day. You may have seen pictures of marimo. It’s bizarrely adorable – like little fuzzy balls

Insects like grasshoppers and crickets may play a role in pollination, new research finds. We tend to think of these critters, called orthopterans, as agricultural pests, but their tropical relatives provide a valuable service to plants by serving as pollinators, according to the study. “When people think of pollinators, bees and butterflies are usually the

If you live with a dog you just know when it’s happy or miserable, don’t you? Of course you do. Even the scientific community, now admits that dogs have emotions – even if scientists can’t directly measure what they are experiencing. People have had a close bond with domesticated dogs for centuries. In his 1764

Scientists in Siberia have made an extraordinary find: the fossilised remains of an extinct baby Palaeolithic horse, in almost perfect condition. Dug out from the permafrost in Siberia’s Batagaika crater – AKA the “Doorway to the Underworld” – the tiny colt is so beautifully preserved, it looks like it could be sleeping. But the equine

In 1815, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia sent shockwaves through history. It gave us science fiction. It gave us Dickensian Christmas (we’ll get to that in a bit). And now, it turns out it may also have played a role in the downfall of one of western history’s greatest generals, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was

Parasitic gall wasps have some of the freshest cribs nature has to offer. Deposited among the trees as young larvae, these hungry parasites trick their plant host into covering them with a gall – a swelling that provides plenty of nutrients for a growing wasp. But in the game of life, there’s always a bigger

Pool noodles aren’t just an important swimming aid. Their buoyancy and bendiness make fun times in the water even more fun than usual. But don’t just take our word for it. This crocodile in Florida clearly thinks so too, having been spotted using a bright yellow pool noodle when crossing a canal in Key Largo

Hawaii may face a direct hit from a Category 5 hurricane later this week. The National Weather Service on Tuesday night said that Hurricane Lane had been upgraded to a Category 5 storm, meaning it has the potential to bring winds in excess of 157 miles per hour (253 km/h) and cause severe damage to

An analysis of a stalagmite from the depths of a cave in China has unveiled clues about an event in Earth’s history when its magnetic field flipped back and forth in a geological blink. Not only was this rapid wobble a surprise, a similarly abrupt shift in the near future would almost certainly pose big

People will tell you laziness is bad. Get up and be active, they say. Move your body around, and it won’t just keep you fit, it could even keep you young. That’s good advice, but new research suggests being inherently lazy isn’t always as bad as is made out – and could actually be an evolutionary

It looks like something out of a sad fairy tale. Tiny ants are pulling over petals, making a pile, and on top rests a dead bumblebee. The original video was posted by Minnesota resident Nicole Webinger, but has since been taken down – although there’s no shortage of copies proliferating across the internet. “Saw this

The Meg had one of the biggest opening weekends at the box office this year, taking in more than US$45 million. At the center of the movie is the megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark that ate whales and was 10 times bigger than a Tyrannosaurus rex. Scientists believe the megashark went extinct at least 2

Their name means ‘monster’, and once upon a time, ancient sailors feared that’s exactly what these giant creatures of the deep were. But while basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) might be the second-largest fish in the ocean, these gentle giants are not fearsome predators but vulnerable plankton-eaters – and despite their massive size, there’s still a

In a truly fascinating case, scientists have discovered that what was once thought to be an extremely rare, elusive songbird in Africa, may have never existed after all. For more than 30 years, experts tried to catch a glimpse of a bird so evasive it was deemed almost mythical. And last year, DNA analysis pointed

Ants don’t tend to get in traffic jams. They might butt heads (or antennae) momentarily as they go about their industrious business, but ants somehow have mastered the art of keeping things moving. They’re geniuses of flow. Another striking thing about ants is that some of them just sit around doing nothing. This has also

A chemical analysis of fossils from 3.4 billion years ago has put them firmly in the running for the title of “world’s oldest evidence of life.” Only discovered in 2011, the microfossils hail from the Strelley Pools formation in the Western Australian desert – an extraordinary find, considering Earth is thought to be around 4.5

Thousands of years ago, on what is now the Greek island of Santorini, a mountain exploded in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. But scientists have had difficulty establishing exactly when the Minoan volcano Thera erupted – until now. An unusual source may be able to settle the debate from conflicting archaeological

If you notice dogs aiming as high as possible when they pee in public, there might be a very good reason for that: they’re trying to trick other dogs into thinking they’re taller than they really are. We already know that dogs leave a urine marker to label their territory or as a calling card

As The Meg, a new sci-fi horror film about a giant shark, fills cinema screens worldwide, it’s worth pausing to appreciate the animal behind the screams. Carcharocles megalodon (or just Megalodon) is one of the most impressive creatures ever to have existed on Earth. Huge, voracious, and beautifully mysterious, megalodons were the largest known sharks

Sometimes, you need a reminder that the world isn’t all bad. Today, the reminder we bring you is this adorable ‘Japan pig’ – a brand new species of pygmy seahorse just discovered in southeastern Japan. “Japan is recognised as a global hotspot of marine biodiversity, with 53 recorded species of syngnathids, including ten species of

Recognising faces is essential for how we interact in complex societies, and is often thought to be an ability that requires the sophistication of the large human brain. But new evidence we published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that insects such as the honeybee (Apis mellifera) and the European wasp (Vespula vulgaris) use visual processing

It might not be a happy ending, but in the circumstances, it’s the happiest we could have hoped for. Tahlequah, aka the orca mother J35, has finally surrendered her deceased newborn calf, after carrying her lifeless body for seventeen straight days in an arduous display of animal grief and denial that made headlines around the

Scientists have sequenced the full genome of a tiny fern with leaves the size of gnats that could help in cutting atmospheric carbon dioxide, fixing nitrogen in agriculture, and shooing insects from crops. Azolla filiculoides is a water fern often found fertilizing rice paddies in Asia, but its ancestry goes much further back. “Fifteen million years

A grieving orca was spotted off the coast of Washington state Thursday, carrying her stillborn calf through the Pacific Ocean for the 17th day in a journey that has astonished and devastated much of the world. Tahlequah, as the mother has come to be called, gave birth on July 25 in what should have been

If you’re in Bermuda at the right time of the month, you’re in for a treat. Around 2-5 days after the full moon, and around 55 minutes after sunset, the Bermuda fireworm swims to the ocean surface and flares into brilliance, lighting up with an incredible bioluminescent glow. The creature lives most of its life in mucus

Thousands of years before cats took up residence in 37 percent of American households, and managed to outnumber dogs by roughly 75 million across the globe, they were hopping continents with farmers, ancient mariners, and even Vikings, scientists have found. In the first large-scale study of ancient feline DNA, the results reveal how our inscrutable

Every year, some 1,200 people make a mad dash for the summit of Mount Everest during the climbing season that begins in May – taking on the arduous, often congested route to the world’s highest peak that most will not complete and some will not survive. Working against them: temperatures far below zero, altitude sickness

Trees are ubiquitous around the globe. Everyone knows that a tree grows up from a seed in the ground. It’s a normal occurrence. But in order to do so, the tree needs to work against gravity – and now researchers have figured out the secret that allows them to do this. Spoiler: It’s bark. This

In 1959, Soviet scientists embarked on an audacious experiment to breed a population of tame foxes, a strain of animals that wouldn’t be aggressive or fearful of people. Scientists painstakingly selected the friendliest foxes to start each new generation, and within 10 cycles they began to see differences from wild foxes – fox pups that

After more than 125 years of mystery, scientists think they have reconfirmed the final resting place of the world’s forgotten ‘eighth wonder’, clearing up much of the uncertainty from previous studies. On 10 June 1886, Mt Tarawera blew its top in one of the largest volcanic eruptions in New Zealand’s history, sending volcanic debris flying

For roughly 17 months, she patiently waited. Like many expectant mothers, she looked forward to the day she would get to welcome her baby into the world. On Tuesday morning, it finally happened. J35, a member of an endangered population of southern resident killer whales, gave birth near Victoria, B.C. It was a baby girl.

After decades of looking, researchers have identified a molecule that plays an important role in guiding sperm to find eggs. The discovery, observed in the cellular biology of sea urchins, isn’t just of importance for marine invertebrates – as the findings may reveal new secrets about human fertility that could help us to treat male

Aftershocks are a common feature of big earthquakes, but they usually occur relatively close to the tremor’s epicenter. For the first time, researchers have found evidence of earthquakes triggering seismic events on the other side of the globe, suggesting a ripple effect that could potentially be used to forecast catastrophes in the future. Researchers at

In a rare and fortuitous moment, scientists have caught Madagascar’s red-fronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) gnawing on toxic millipedes and rubbing them all over their genitals and anuses. The first-of-its-kind discovery was made in 2016 by Louise Peckre, an expert in primatology at the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Germany, when she was on a

Before the massive Hope Diamond came to rest in a Smithsonian exhibit, before the gem passed among wealthy owners and thieves and French royals, before it acquired its cursed reputation, before it was mined in India, the diamond was born at hellish depths beneath Earth’s crust. Fittingly, the birth of a blue diamond like the

Forget language, or smarts, or even our flair for art. Our species represents the last of its kind simply because we’ve pushed into environments others never dared to tread. Two archaeologists suggest the global domination of a single species of hominin isn’t incidental – Homo sapien’s ability to flourish in extreme conditions was a key